“Wolf, I consider you family. Family looks out for each other. If your uncle hit the lottery, don’t you think he’d give your dad some money?” I asked.
He thought about it for a moment and then nodded.
“I’m not looking to just give you money. I admit, there may be some of that, but what I want to do is help you achieve your goals. Tracy had a good suggestion about you all talking to my uncle. With the goals he helped me create, I have something to refer to whenever I’m unsure of where I’m going.
“I admit I’m not sure what I’ll be when I finally grow up, but I’m working towards something,” I explained.
“What about us all going to the same college?” Tami asked.
“I’d like that,” I said.
“Wouldn’t college depend on whether you take this role?” Tracy asked.
I smiled and nodded. I suddenly decided. If the Star Wars part had been what I was supposed to do, it wouldn’t have been such a hard decision. I’m not sure if it was selfish or not, but I wanted a chance to play football and baseball, to go to college and experience everything that meant. I’d always planned to get a degree. None of that was likely if I became a full-time actor now.
“I just decided: I’m not going to take it.”
“Seriously?” Tami asked, concerned.
“Yeah, seriously. It might be career suicide as an actor, but I don’t want to miss going to college and spending time with you guys,” I said.
“David, we would understand,” Tracy said.
“I’m sure you would, but I’m not ready for this and everything that it entails.”
“You’ll still miss the first semester of college. How will that work for football?” Tim asked.
“I’ll gray-shirt,” I said and saw that they didn’t know what that was. “In college athletics, you have five years to complete four. From what I’ve heard, it looks like most of the big-time programs would want me to redshirt anyway. That’s to give me time to get comfortable with both school and with their system. Gray-shirting means I wouldn’t enroll in college until the spring semester which in effect gives me an extra year of eligibility.”
“What if you get hurt?” Wolf asked.
“You can go to the NCAA and petition for a sixth year. It would depend on whether they would grant it. There have been some athletes who have done that.”
The sixth year was for injuries, typically. God forbid you blow your knee out twice and miss two seasons for medical reasons. In cases like that, they would consider it. I wasn’t sure they would grant me an extra year because I’d voluntarily skipped a semester. I remembered that John Phillips, my quarterback friend at Kentucky, didn’t think they would grant him a sixth season. He’d taken a redshirt his freshman year and then gotten hurt stepping off a curb, of all things. The good news was it wouldn’t affect baseball. They played in the spring.
“How do you see this help working?” Tami asked.
“I’d sit down with each of you, and we’d talk about what you want to be when you grow up. We’d figure out what it would take to get you there and whether I could help in some way,” I said.
“So, if I needed to go back to the UK to gain additional training …” Tami ventured.
“No. I mean, ‘Hell No!’” I said.
That got them all laughing. I wasn’t paying for her to go hook up with some British guys.
“I need a Mustang,” Tracy said.
“No, you have a car,” I said and then smiled. “This is what I mean about moochers,” I said as I tilted my head towards Tracy and Tami’s end of the table.
“But if I needed book money?” Alan asked.
“I would pay for it,” I admitted. “I would also help you with my contacts.”
“That’s a much bigger deal than you guys probably realize. David and his family know people. His contacts can help you,” Tami said.
“What if I plan to join the Marines right out of high school? How can you help me with that?” Cassidy asked.
“First of all, you’re not doing that,” I said and raised my hands to stop her protests. “Your dad explained to me that if you want to be an officer, you need a college degree. I want you to be the best Marine you can be, and that means you need to be a leader.”
Cassidy blinked a few times, and she started to tear up.
“You think I could be a leader?” she asked.
“Of course I do. Look at what you’ve done with sixty minutes of hell,” I said.
“David’s right, I would never have stuck it out if you hadn’t gotten me to join and helped me realize how much it would benefit me. It took a leader to get me to do all that,” Alan said.
“We all look up to you,” Wolf added, looking dead serious.
“You mean we’re all scared of her,” Tim mumbled.
That made us smile.
“I’ll think about it,” Cassidy conceded.
“No, you and I will talk about it, just like I expect you all to talk with me. This isn’t a one-way discussion, either. I want to know what you think I should do, and I expect you’ll support me. Think of us as a team of friends who are there for each other,” I said.
“Does that mean we get to go to Cuba with you?” Alan asked.
I considered that for a minute.
“Sorry, but no. It’s not because I wouldn’t want you there, it’s because there isn’t time to get you cleared to go into the country. I had to submit the list of people who would accompanyme to the State Department to get clearance to do the movie some time ago.”
“Okay, then what about New Zealand?” Alan asked.
He was nothing if not persistent.
“If you decide to take a semester off from college, we could discuss it,” I said.
“Let’s talk about you getting us laid,” Wolf suggested.
“Yeah, David. Let’s talk about that,” Cassidy said.
I raised both my eyebrows at Cassidy’s suggestion.
“I saw some of those Abercrombie models,” Tracy said to pile on.
“Dear God, did you see the Victoria’s Secret one he dragged home with him?” Alan asked.
I didn’t like the direction of this conversation. I glared at all the expectant faces that had dreams of me finding them actors and models to have fun with.
“Forget I offered. You bunch of dorks are on your own,” I pouted.
“You said we were a team,” Tracy complained. “I arranged for the Victoria’s Secret model to spend the weekend with you. You could do the same for your friends.”
I simply ignored them as they began to talk about their dream guy or girl. They’d had to listen to me go on and on about Hannah Minacci; it was now my turn to listen to their fantasies. I had a secret smile when I imagined what they would do if I arranged to have their fantasies show up for a date. Prom was coming up.
Before I left, I called my uncle and told him what we’d talked about. He agreed to help each of them create personal goals. I gave them his number, and they promised to set up individual meetings. In fact, I needed to set up one for myself because once I came back from vacation, I wanted to review my goals again. I could see how my outlook on life had changed and how my goals needed to be adjusted to fit my new worldview.
Hmmm … come to think of it, Caryn had talked about me having a plan. She was talking more about career and business planning, but it still made sense to at least consider this. Perhaps after the Cuba trip or after U-18 tryouts, we could have a serious talk about it. I wanted to get with Uncle John first, though. It seemed to me, checking in on my mission statement came first.
I sat back, bemused. As troubling as the Star Wars offer had been, it may have been beneficial in a tangible way. It was kick-starting some necessary thinking and planning. Yeah, perhaps it was uncomfortable for a teenager, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t the right thing to do.